Highlighting Agriculture

Mid Atlantic

I have said for many years, agriculturalists have some of the prettiest, most iconic landscapes to capture on film. We have cute kids, farmers, animals and vistas. We also have truthful images and events describing the inter-workings and hardships associated with farming. Any way you slice it, the media’s portrayal of our farms is of particular interest to the general public. Why not explore working with a multimedia specialist to tell your story? [Read more…]

Eighth generation farmers Dan and Steve Gross have been farming for as long as they can remember, but growing demand for fed Holstein steers took the brothers’ Manchester, PA, cattle operation to a new level.

Dan recalls that for many years, the family’s Cold Spring Farms was home to about 130 calves at a time. Calves were housed in a variety of calf hutches and pens on the farm, but feeding and handling was inefficient. [Read more…]

Insure all of the animals in your care are well provided for as winter approaches.

by George Looby, DVM

Each year when the maples have dropped the last of their leaves the time arrives when we begin to look around our homesteads and begin the seasonal task of buttoning down for winter. It is an age-old ritual that never changes but as we check down the list of things to be done it is easy to slip and overlook one or more important tasks. High on the list should be insuring that all of the animals in our care are well provided for as winter approaches. [Read more…]

Fresh cows are typically maintained on a slightly modified high-production cow diet. Unlike dry cow diets, where much of the research on transition cow nutrition has been focused, the postpartum period dietary requirements have been overlooked. But that will be changing, as researchers focus on fresh cow feeding strategies over the next few years, predicts Dr. Tom Overton, Cornell University, Professor Director, PRO-DAIRY. [Read more…]

My agricultural background rests firmly in the equine area. However, with the impending Thanksgiving holiday and the looming threat of bird flu I was pressed into service to find a turkey breeder willing to allow a stranger onto their farm to take a picture of a turkey for a cover.

I learned very quickly that in the face of not only the avian flu outbreak but also the possibility of animal rights activists, the breeders of turkeys, whose main crop after all will be greatly in demand at this time, are not welcoming of strangers. I can’t say that I blame them, come to think of it. I know that if I had a crop of fancy sales yearlings headed for a major horse sale I would be cautious too. But it did mean that I couldn’t just hit the Internet, call a few of the listed turkey farms and expect a welcome mat to be laid out at the end of the farm driveway. [Read more…]

The cause(s) of breast cancer in humans continues to elude researchers in their ongoing quest for answers to the many possible factors that may contribute to its development. This devastating disease has been recognized for many years with many of the world’s best and brightest minds searching for answers that will lead not just to a cure but more importantly to the cause. Here the question arises as to whether it is one disease or does it have many contributing factors which, when interacting, give rise to the condition that clinicians are trained to recognize. [Read more…]

The “sustainability” equation has officially been disregarded by the USDA’s 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGAs), much to the satisfaction of many players in the dairy and beef industries. The original request for “sustainability” to be included in the update to the Guidelines — which are mandated under 1990 National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Act (NNMRRA) and updated every five years — was ultimately denied.